Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The rise in popularity of social networking websites has seen many people adopt a different approach to building their network. They have followed the idea encouraged by a number of 'experts' that large numbers of followers or connections are all important. Internet Psychologist, Graham Jones, has just written about evidence that demonstrates this approach is wrong. His article about new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology into 'The Spread of Behavior in an Online Social Network' reports on the findings. The research compared how behaviour was spread in two competing networks. It spread much farther and faster in the quality, structured network than in the random one.

As Graham writes, "this research confirms that a structured network of close ties is the most beneficial. It is evidence that quality of your network is more important than quantity."

This is more confirmation that success in networking (offline and online) comes down to building a manageable number of relationships amongst people with influence amongst the right audience. Then motivating that network to advocate you.

Graham includes some great networking tips in his article:

1. Concentrate on truly connecting with people, rather than building numbers. Focus on relationships, rather than popularity rankings.

2. Keep in regular touch with your network; don't just add occasional information - make your social network a key part of your daily activity.

3. Encourage your network participants to invite their real-life friends to join your specific group; getting people to support each other within your network appears to boost the entire network, the study finds.

4. Have structure to your network - rather than making it informal, provide leadership.